Price per carat for light orange-pink sapphire

[emmmme]

I'd love to see what you can find, spinel-wise. I haven't come across anything that sang to me. Most of what I've seen that is pale is too cool a pink, and what I've seen in the right hue is too saturated. I'm sure you're equipped with many more sources than I've managed to familiarize myself with!

I can't help but remain curious.... If the colour of the Gemfix sapphire was perfect to you, what do you think is a fair price? Right now it's priced at $1075/carat.

 

[minousbijoux]

Arrghh, I wish I could answer that, Em. The problem is that I've never priced that color. The points that will work in your favor are the low level of saturation; and the fact that its not a highly sought after color *I believe* The point that will work against you is the size you seek. I think depending on the cutting, you hopefully will be looking at under $1000/ct, potentially well under.

You could work with any one of the lapidaries to find rough and cut it for you; at least they can tell you the likelihood of finding that color. Since its not a highly sought after color, I would imagine the rough would be less expensive to obtain. The ones I'd approach are Gene at Precision Gem and Barry at AC Stones. There are also some ebay stores where you might find a spinel or sapphire of that color already cut. Check out colorgemstore, jeffdvs101, ploythai, primagemsauction, shopgemstone, and weblorn. Many of these I have not purchased from, but others have and they look like they might have the color you seek in the size you potentially want. Keep in mind that some of them amp up saturation in photos so check the videos if they have them and you'll need to ask about treatment and make sure if you care about no treatment, that you get proof. Even if you decide not to buy on ebay, at least keep a record of colors you like, so that when you approach a lapidary like Gene or Barry, you can give them a benchmark.

HTH.

 

[chel180]

i know you were originally after a sapphire but I saw this tourmaline that was similar to the GF sapphire that you liked and thought I'd share. Peachy-pink with soft saturation.
http://thegemtrader.com/Mar12APTourmPage.htm

 

[minousbijoux]

Good call, Chel!

 

[emmmme]

Thanks for the heads up! I love the colour and the price is right.

 

[emmmme]

Thought I'd post a quick update -- I bought and returned the tourmaline recommended by chel. It was really nicely cut and it had a lot more sparkle than I imagined it would, but the colour wasn't right for me. In natural light it's a very cool lilac -- a little less saturated than the Madagascan sapphire posted by minous at the beginning of this thread. But I wouldn't say that the colour was as uniform. I did very much like the size, cut and proportions though!

Anyway, I took a couple of quick shots before sending it back right away -- I think the blacked out parts in this one are a reflection of the window frame. I should have held onto it another day to practice getting better shots!

 

[minousbijoux]

Em: that's a good start! So now do you feel like you know the dimensions, tone and color of the stone you seek?

 

[emmmme]

Yes, definitely. I really like chunkier cushion cut to a portuguese cut, for one.

The thing that surprised me the most was how different the colour was. I couldn't see any of the creamy or peach flashes that appear in the vendor photo. Even though I've been through the vendor/owner pictures thread (many times, even!), it surprised me. In some of my pictures under artificial light (not sure what temp), the stone even looked colourless. I understand now why people trust vendors' verbal descriptions as a complement to photographs!

 

[chel180]

thats such a shame. it looked so promising from the vendor pics. any other possibilities that you are considering?

 

[chrono]

I'm sorry the stone did not work out for you but sounds like you learned something from this experience. Now you know what questions to ask before pulling the wallet out.